Regional Patterns and Dynamics of Learning Outcomes in India

In the last few decades, educational enrolment at different levels of schooling has increased. The socio-economic disparity in education participation has also reduced. However, students’ learning levels have been low, and the trends in learning outcomes have been stagnant. Against this backdrop, this paper investigates how regional disparity in learning outcomes has changed over time. Using multiple rounds of nationally representative data on test scores and schooling inputs, we apply the methodology of convergence to study temporal changes in the distribution of learning outcomes across the Indian districts over a decade. Our findings reveal the existence of absolute convergence, which seems to be driven mainly by a fall in learning outcomes among initially better-performing districts. Our analysis of conditional convergence shows the importance of having equality of opportunity in reducing regional disparity in learning over time. Our study highlights the need for having policy measures targeted toward underperforming regions, especially in the current times when the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the education system and caused significant learning loss among students from disadvantaged backgrounds.